Photodegradation kinetics and byproducts identification of the Aflatoxin B1 in aqueous medium by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Abstract A photodegradation study of Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) in water solution was performed under UV irradiation at different AFB 1 initial concentrations and UV irradiation intensities. The effect of UV intensity on the AFB 1 photodegradation ratio is dominative, when compared with AFB 1 initial concentration. The photodegradation of AFB 1 was proved to follow first‐order reaction kinetics ( R 2 ≥ 0.99). Three photodegradation products, i.e. P 1 (C 17 H 14 O 7 ), P 2 (C 16 H 14 O 6 ) and P 3 (C 16 H 12 O 7 ), were identified on the basis of low mass error and high matching property by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC–Q‐TOF MS), and the degradation pathway was proposed. This study first reports the appearance of these photodegradation products and the proposed degradation pathway in aqueous media. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.